History of the Elves
The Birth and the Dreaming The History of the elvish race begins as the Age of Dragons came to a close with the deaths of Thirsha’s first children, Nelfaros the Adamant, and Mirnadros the Mithral. With the turmoil created by the clash of the great elemental dragons, the world of Erasis was in ruins. Great swaths of land were torn asunder, mountains crushed, and forests burnt. In order to return balance to the world, Thirsha created her second children, imbuing within them sparks of mystical energy forged from the dreams of the Fae themselves. She then placed her children at the heart of creation, where the dreams of souls welled strongest amongst the roots and boughs of the World Tree, Eladrassil. To the dragons she had tasked with stewardship of the world, but that was when the elements of the world were in harmony, and this new age called for something else entirely. The Eladrin were crafted of the stuff of dreams, and so their dreams would become real. Unlike the Dragons, the Eladrin had free will, and their souls were made to long for things beyond their given purpose. Soon they began creating great wonders of art and craft; building, singing, trading, and learning; doing all manner of things that mortal creatures do to nurture their souls. In time, the Fae Isles began to flourish with new life which echoed forth from the dreams of the Eladrin, but this was not the only place that new life began to take form. The world tree carried the dreaming souls of the Eladrin deep into the Astral Sea, and as they ebbed and flowed, many divine sparks began to gather and coalesce, drawn out from their places in the fabric of reality. As these sparks began to drift together, they formed eggs of celestial light and power, and from these eggs the gods would come forth. Ignorant to the growing celestial deities in heaven, as well as to the schemes of the Corrupter, the Eladrin continued about their lives for millennia unchanged. The Nightmare Eris corrupts some of the Eladrin toward her worship. Their Nightmares begin to take root in the great forests of the Fae Isles. Determined to purge the sacred forest and protect the World Tree, the Grand Druid calls for a Wild Hunt to flush their dark kin from the world forever. Many Dark Elves perish, eventually driven underground, far beyond the roots of the sacred land. In the darkness, far from Eladrassil, the Dark Elves eventually lose their immortality, but in exchange receive new and terrible powers over darkness and the void. They swear to one day return the Nightmare to the World Tree that it might wither and spread the Nightmare into the Feywyld. The First Exodus When the first exodus truly began is known only to the most ancient Eladrin memories kept in the crystal forests of Memoria. In fact, very few Eladrin living know many details of the events surrounding or cause of the First Exodus. What is known is that a large group of Eladrin left the Fae Isles abruptly, and it is said they swore only to return when the seas themselves threatened to drown the World Tree. Nearly half of the population of Eladrin left the Fae Isles during this time, sailing in every direction to seek out new homes elsewhere. Whether they left out of sheer wanderlust or if they were expelled remains a mystery. All that is known is that their ships of crystal and starwood sailed off on the horizon and no sign of them was ever seen again. See Sidebar: History of the Sea Elves '' '''The Second Exodus' Centuries passed throughout the world, empires rising and falling across the continents while the Eladrin went about their lives as they always had. In time disparate groups of Eladrin began to depart once again from the Fae Isles for a number of reasons. Many Eladrin from the islands of Valenar, Serenal and Eladri left out of a desire to see what lands lay beyond their shores. Others, such as the Exiles of Celenar left to escape persecution by their fellow Eladrin who were discomforted by their curiosities involving arcane magics. These Eladrin sailed to all corners of the world, with ships from Valenar, Serenal, and Celenar landing on the shores of Damasia. Other ships from Serenal and Eladri landed on the shores of the continent of Xhaan, settling new communities far away from the Fae Isles. As the centuries passed, the Eladrin and their descendants who had left their ancestral homeland began to change. Cut off from the well of their immortality, the World Tree, the Eladrin’s ties to their Fae heritage weakened, and their souls began to become forever bound to the material world. They did not however completely lose their mystical natures as creatures born from the very essence of ephemeral dreams. In fact, this is largely credited with why amongst all the races of the world, the Elves are known to develop more sub-races than any other, their very natures taking on the features of the powers with which they align themselves. It is at this point that the history of the Elves diverges based on these sub-species' creation and location. ''See sidebar: History of the Damasian Elves ''